Hearing devices are continuously exposed to the risk of contamination when being worn. The microphone inputs are particularly sensitive, as they are designed to be as acoustically transparent as possible, but also to keep dirt away from the acoustic converters.
The protection of hearing device microphones from moisture, suspended matter (e.g. grease, dust particles, cerumen, water spray and suchlike) using special protection systems is known in order to extend the lifetime of the microphones. As the microphone protection systems generally draw dirt into or onto themselves, it is also desirable for the protection system to be easily removable from the outside after it is worn out.
An apparatus of this type for sealing hearing device ports or ear molds is known for example from the publication EP 0 310 866 A1. Such ports allow the entry and exit of sound, or ventilation for example. A microporous membrane made of non-adhesive material may be inserted into the respective port. The membrane is placed in the interior of a casing or injected into a port of the casing for example. The casing is then attached to the relevant port of the hearing device. If a hearing device has a directional microphone with several microphone ports, then said ports must be protected individually. The application or replacement of the microphone protection system is relatively laborious.
A cerumen filter for hearing devices is known from the publication U.S. Pat. No. 5,401,920 A. It consists of a film which is adhered to the hearing device. The film comprises an acoustically permeable membrane and a film disposed therebelow which exhibits a hole where the sound passage is located.
Patent specification U.S. Pat. No. 6,164,409 A further discloses a protective membrane for hearing devices, which covers a sound outlet. The membrane is fixed to an assembly ring.